Long Live The Dead Read online

  “Only when you’re around, Johnny.” Tommy fired back.

  John’s smug expression soured at the use of the nickname he had never tolerated even as a child.

  “You should be afraid ‘Stains’, it wouldn’t be easy to get rid of your body down here but I bet I could do it. And up there…” He looked and pointed upwards for dramatic effect. “Who knows what might happen?”

  “Is there a reason why we’re breathing your stench right now Greene?” Robert interjected before the other two came to blows.

  “Yeah.” he said finally breaking the staring match. “Pennebaker wants to see the whole team in Mess Hall after evening meal. Eighteen hundred hours. Don’t be late”

  Even Robert had to look up a little to meet Greene’s eye, which he did trying not to blink. “We’ll be there.”

  Finally, keeping their eyes locked Greene stalked passed them, making a point to brush against Tommy without even looking. Tommy waited until he was sure that Greene was out of earshot but he still spoke quietly just in case – “Nice to know who’ll have our backs up there.”

  “Hey, there’s only one person I trust with my back… but seeing as Feldman isn’t coming I guess you’ll do.”

  Tommy elbowed him gently in the arm. “Jack-hole.”

  II

  They filed into the mess hall together a little after five thirty, joining the end of the line and grabbing trays. As they slowly made their way down the line most of the servers smiled and dispensed double rations. They got a few looks here and there - No body ever went hungry but there were always those that wanted more and the only way to get it was to wait around for the end of service and “scrapping” as most of the kids called it. There were several disheartened faces around the room at the sight of the final members of the expedition team coming in and cleaning out the serving trays.

  Robert and Tommy found two seats together and tried not to notice John Greene sitting in the corner slicing their throats with his eyes.

  As he ate his way through his neatly compartmentalized allotments of starch, protein, vegetable and non-dairy dairy products Robert felt another pair of eyes on him. He glanced slowly sideways and met the gaze of a ten year old little girl named Mary Roach doing her very best Oliver impression. Without speaking her eyes perfectly emulated a cockney accent – ‘Please sir, can I have some more?’

  He smiled then quietly setting down his fork, he casually slipped one of the two corn bread cookies off of his tray and on to hers. “I have some extra vegetables here too if you want” he whispered. Her eyes grew large and she shook her head violently, braking eye contact she quickly devoured the cookie before he could change his mind.

  Slowly the room emptied leaving only the seven members of the expedition team. Promptly at six o’clock Pennebaker strode into the room -- somehow he always made even the most threadbare of clothing seem as crisp and formal as anything Robert had seen in pictures of military personnel in the library.

  Everyone got to their feet and stood at attention, everyone accept Greene who just leaned casually in his chair and smiled at the perpetual joke everyone seemed to be to him.

  “At ease gentlemen.”

  Everyone who had left their seats sat back down and faced Pennebaker.

  “Well tomorrow is the big day – twelve hours and counting. Does anybody have any cold feet?” He gave everyone several seconds but his only reply was silence.

  “Very well. Now I know we’ve gone over it before – there’s no need to cover everything again I just wanted to give you all one last chance to change your minds. I know that it’s a dream for all of us to be able to walk around up on the surface instead of just under it… but ‘the Fear of Freedom’ is something just as real here as it was in the old world, if not more so.”

  Still nobody else spoke.

  “Hopefully your alarms will already be set, I want you all to try and get as much sleep as you can, everyone is to muster upstairs at Oh-five-hundred to collect your gear – and let me tell you gentlemen, I pulled this stuff out of storage myself earlier today and it is crisp and clean, like you have never seen. Only the best for our best. We do not know what obstacles you may face out there, if there are any other survivors there is no way of knowing how hostile they might be. How protective of what they have they may be. They may be completely savage. But that is what you have been trained for.”

  He paused and met every one them in the eye.

  “Any questions?”

  Ramirez raised his hand. “Sir, are we sure the virus is dead?”

  “That’s what the Med-Heads tell me – what about it Smith? When you get top side are you going to be breathing deep?”

  “Ey-ey sir long and hard”

  In his corner Greene Laughed. “That’ll be a first for you Smith, Long and Hard…”

  A titter went around the room, even Pennebaker smiled.

  “Now gentlemen lets keep the jabs above the belt shall we?”

  Everyone groaned. “Alright, alright… Baker and Jackson – I want you to head up to the shop we’re going to go over the Hummer again one last time, the rest of you are dismissed.”

  Outside the mess hall Robert and Tommy parted ways, tonight was a night to be with family. Robert walked silent and alone to the library to escort his mother home.

  Standing just inside the doorway he looked around the room where he had spent most of his youth – when not running around with Tommy Sterns. He waited patiently while she finished the story that she was reading to a gathering of a dozen small children.

  The Library was one of the biggest rooms in the multi story complex. Graham Greene had been determined not to let the accumulated writings of man be destroyed should whatever event necessitating the use of his bunkers wipe out the major cities and their libraries. This collection rivaled the library of congress - as well as the tens of thousands of physical books that this room held, digital copies also existed for every single one and millions more in electronic form on hard drives in storage, so that should anything become damaged or lost it could easily be reprinted.

  Robert had read many of the reference books over the years but he far preferred the fiction. He would read the entire catalog of one author then another, jumping from genre to genre on a whim – from the mysteries of Raymond Chandler or Gregory McDonald to the horrors of King, Koontz and Laymon. Of course he had to read most of the books twice, the first time stopping every few pages to look up one reference or another and then again from the beginning without stopping.

  He was lost in thought, wondering if he had time to read something when his mother came over.

  Abigail Howard was almost as tall as her Son, her long black hair was pulled back from her caramel skin and tied with a colorful scarf that had been a gift from Grandmother Etta and she was wearing her favorite dress which draped loosely from her shoulders almost all the way to the floor.

  “A penny for your thoughts.”

  “Hmm?”

  “Has your mind already left, ahead of the rest of you?”

  “No Mother, I’m sorry I was just thinking about getting a book to read.”

  “Oh no you don’t, your father wants to play some dominoes with you tonight.”

  “Oh, of course – I forgot.”

  They walked along in silence for a moment before Abigail spoke again. “You’re still distracted, what is it?”

  “I just realized that I forgot to talk to commander Pennebaker, about taking Etta’s ashes to the surface with me. Do you think that she would like that?”

  Sudden tears had formed in her eyes and it took a moment for her to answer.

  “Of course, I think that is a wonderful idea, she would probably like that very much, you should go, quickly now.”

  “You don’t want me to finish walking you home?”

  “No – No, you should go now before it gets too late. But try not to be too long though for your father’s sake”

  “Alright, thank you mother, I won’t be long”

/>   He jogged off back the way they had come and Abigail was grateful to be alone for a moment, she hated to cry in front of anyone.

  Robert headed straight for the upper level and the Machine Shop. If he was quick Pennebaker should still be up there with Jackson and Baker going over every inch of the vehicle for their journey tomorrow, if he missed him now he might have to search the entire bunker and that could take hours.

  As it was the three men were all still in the shop bent over a set of schematic drawings for the Hummer. They had already stripped and rebuilt the thing several times over the past few weeks and knew it quite literally inside and out.

  Like every other area of their mission they wanted to leave no margin for error – if anything went wrong out there they had to know how to fix it.

  Approaching quietly he cleared his throat and waited patiently for Pennebaker to address him.

  “Howard, how can I help you? Getting cold feet about leading the team? You already had your chance to step down”

  “No Sir, I… I just wondered if I might have a word with you in private Sir”

  “Carry on men” Pennebaker said in way of excusing himself and the two of them walked over to a refreshment station. Pouring himself a glass of ice water he spoke again.

  “What’s on your mind Robert?”

  “Well Sir, I was just wondering… if they are done with the remains, perhaps there might be enough room to take my great-grandmother’s ashes with me tomorrow?”

  The older man smiled forming wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.

  “Of course son, of course… Etta was some lady, I can still remember when she used to tell us stories when I was a kid. I think we can find room for one more”

  “Thank you Sir, If you authorize it I can go down to the church and collect her –”

  “No son, if you would allow me the honor of escorting her, I would gladly handle that – You should be home with your family tonight”

  “Yes Sir, Thank you.” Robert said, standing board straight. Pennebaker excused him with a nod and he hurried back to his family’s quarters.

  That night everyone held their own private going away celebrations, they laughed, talked and played games. That night only the youngest of children slept, warn out from play, everyone else was too excited. Tomorrow would be the biggest thing that had happened to the bunker since the day it first sealed its doors almost a century before.

  III

  Gathered in the machine shop - a room that had once been the main parking garage - the members of the expedition gathered with family and friends there to see them off.

  The Howard family had already said their goodbyes, not seeing the point in drawing it out any more they had already gone back to work. No one from John Greene’s family was there either and he didn’t seem to care, he just watched as mothers cooed over their sons with his usual smirk of superiority.

  Robert smiled himself but only with genuine mirth as Tommy’s mother licked her hand and tried to flatten his perpetual cowlick and his father tried to shoo her away to leave his son some dignity.

  Nearby Henry Jackson was receiving a similar treatment from his mother, the thing that made that scene more comical was their distinct difference in height and build. Martha Jackson was a small thin woman and her son still held the record for being the largest child ever born inside the bunker. He towered above her and had the added indignity of having to bend down to be preened. Henry was a nice guy, a very gentle soul and Robert liked him a lot but he wasn’t entirely convinced that the only reason Henry was coming along wasn’t to flip the Hummer back over should they accidentally roll it.

  John Smith Sr. patted his son on the shoulder with one hand whilst adjusting his horned rim glasses with the other, Jr. shrugged, replied to whatever his father had said and pushed his own glasses back up his nose. It was like watching someone give a pep talk to his younger self.

  Ramirez stood with his mother, father and younger sister in a circle their heads all bent in quiet prayer.

  The only one who wasn’t there was Baker, he’d been here earlier with the rest of them and collected his uniform but hadn’t mustered back yet after getting changed. Just then he strode back into the room chewing something and wiping crumbs from the front of his already soiled jacket.

  “Welcome back Mr. Baker – couldn’t miss a second breakfast I see”

  “No sir – I wanted to grab one last edible meal before we’re at the mercy of Sterns, Sir”

  “Hey, I’m offended – just for that there will be no mercy for you” Tommy said mockingly.

  “What, are you going to force me to eat your food?”

  “Alright Ladies. Now that we’re all here why don’t we start this dance? I’m going to hand over control to the mission leader – Mr. Howard”

  “Thank you Sir, Okay guys lets load ‘um up. Can someone please get the door for us?”

  As everyone climbed into the Hummer one of the technicians activated the large mechanical doors which slid back slowly with a twisted scream of metal on metal – despite having been opened a few days before in preparation for the mission to dig out the ramp.

  Everyone in the room just stood silently and watched as they got what was for many of them, their first glimpse of the real sky.

  The ramp out of the complex faced south so they couldn’t see the sun, only its effect on the sky. There were a few pure white clouds scattered across a backdrop of breathtaking blue, this was the kind of scene no camera could ever capture.

  As soon as the doors were open all the way open Baker slowly drove the Hummer up the ramp and instantly they were in another world. They looked all around at the panorama surrounding them, there wasn’t a man made structure in sight and if you didn’t know, you would have no idea that there was anything there at all.

  That was just one of the problems they faced in finding their way back again. After the team left a crew of engineers was going to set about repairing an antenna array that had collapsed probably decades ago, or erecting a new one if the need be, it would serve the dual purpose increasing the range of their communications and it would act as a visual aide for the return journey.

  A few of those staying behind came up the ramp to look around and wave one last time, they all had to shield their eyes from the brightness. It would take some getting used to being on the surface, after years of repairing all of the light bulbs in the bunker none of them were quite as bright as once they were.

  Everyone, even Greene although he tried to hide it, was in awe of their surroundings - inside the Hummer they had slipped on their eye shades to try and mute the glaring new world.

  Baker tried to pick out a path that wasn’t too uneven but it wasn’t easy, the area they were in was mostly dunes, nothing the massive all terrain vehicle couldn’t handle but they still had to be careful, there was no telling what lay under the sand – if a storm had buried a small building and they happened to drive over the top they might suddenly find themselves falling through the roof like an elevator with no cables. Even if it wasn’t fatal to the passengers it could be for the truck.

  Jackson rode in the front passenger seat acting as navigator, he had a topographic map laid across his knees which were pushed up against the dashboard and in one of his giant hands he held what was by comparison a small magnetic compass. In theory the terrain shouldn’t have changed too much, over the near century that the bunker was sealed there had been several earthquakes – one of them big enough to cause some minor structural damage but nothing that should have altered the larger rivers or mountains.

  The plan was to try and find some of the larger traffic thoroughfares or railroad lines using geographic estimations and if possible follow them to what been major cities or towns – theory being that they had been settled once they could be again.

  A lot of the land not too far from here had been farmland before The Cataclysm, if they could find wells for irrigation they might be able to plant entire fields of crops solving the growing pr
oblem of dwindling food supplies, it might be dangerous but if they could find a wild heard of cows maybe they could capture and keep some and have real meat and milk, the freeze dried supplies ran out a generation ago anyone younger then fifty had never eaten protein that wasn’t tempeh or tofu.

  After a little while the terrain flattened out and they could see for miles without any major variation in the grounds surface. Further ahead and off to their left there were mountains rising up in the distance, their first destination – a place with the old name Red Rock Canyon. They would camp near there for the night and drive across the Mojave Desert the next day aiming for Angeles National Forest the next night and then Los Angeles itself. If there was anywhere nearby that civilization had survived it would probably be there.

  They made it to Red Rock Canyon by early afternoon, parking in the shade of one of the buttes, an area that should offer some protection from the wind if it picked up, they decided to take advantage and make camp early, spending the rest of the day exploring the area.

  Baker and Jackson opened up the engine compartment and looked it over, checking the fuel consumption, hoses and gaskets to make sure everything was holding up well before they got any further away from the bunker. In theory if there was a problem now they could still get back using the dirt bike they had stored on the roof, its primary function was supposed to be for exploring more remote areas the Hummer might not make it into but it could also be used as an emergency vehicle should they run into trouble.

  “Okay guys, while they check over the truck… Ramirez, why don’t you see if you can find a way up to the top of this and check if they have the antenna up yet?”

  “You got it – Radio Ramirez is on the air”

  “Tommy you and Smith start on supper and Greene – why don’t you scout around to the East and I’ll take the West”

  “Whatever.” Greene said flatly. He grabbed his MP5 rifle and stalked off in the direction he was told.